


Red and Silver

by RomanceOnExpress



Series: Crossovers Nobody Asked For [3]
Category: Bayonetta (Video Games), 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-26
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2017-11-26 23:52:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/655760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomanceOnExpress/pseuds/RomanceOnExpress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Cereza is lost and Kurama gets to play guardian.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red and Silver

**Author's Note:**

> Gift-fic for shimaneki on tumblr.

Kurama strolled leisurely through the dark woods, the presence of nature around him soothing and relaxed. His long silver tail swished contently, tall ears catching the light sounds of harmless birds chirping and leaves rustling in the wind. And… the unmistakable sound of a young girl humming.

The demon paused, titling his head toward the sound, upwind of him. Curious, he diverted his path towards the child. Wary of a possible protective mother, he searched the area with his energy, but was startled when he sensed nothing, not even the girl’s own life signature. Even more curious now, he approached carefully, silently, to her location.

She was, to say the least, the most adorable thing the Youko had ever laid eyes on. Big grey eyes were wide behind large spectacles, her face round and youthful. Two red ribbons wound through two thick braids. She carried a raggedy cat doll in her arms as she shuffled nervously across the clearing in a red night dress and slippers.

Youko tried yet again to sense her spirit energy, only able to grasp that her scent resembled a human’s. But with no spirit…

The girl suddenly gasped, turned toward his hiding spot behind a tree. “Daddy? Mummy?”

Silver eyebrows rose at her noticing him, though he hadn’t made a sound. He came around the tree, trying for a warm smile. No need to frighten the girl and start her crying or screaming for needless attention.

“Neither, I’m afraid.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at her small pout, hugging her doll tighter to her chest for comfort. He raised in hands in a peace offering, lowering himself to one knee. “Are you lost, little one?”

“Yes…” Her little shoulders sagged. “I’m looking for my daddy! He told me to go to a church, but I fell here instead!” She looked around herself, her brows furrowing. “I didn’t know there was such a large park here!”

“Where are you from? Perhaps I can take you back there?” No need to correct her, to inform her that parks didn’t exist in the demon world.

“I’m… from my house…” she swayed a bit, side-to-side, when she looked back up at him.

“Well…” Kurama sighed, having minimal experience with children. He only knew not to upset them, or push them. Or anything other then please them, least they raise a racket. “Well…” he offered again as she patiently watched him, “Could you show me where you fell here? Maybe I can help you back.”

She smiled brightly at him, jumped a bit in excitement. “Okay!”

She shuffled back the other way, across the clearing again. He slowly rose to his feet, in no rush with the pace she kept. The child wasn’t getting anywhere fast the way she moved. Poor thing.

“Um…” she stopped, turned to him, titled her head back far to see his face. “Um…”

“Yes?” he smiled again, trying to disarm her obvious fear of him.

“Uh… What’s your name?”

“Youko Kurama. You may simply call me Kurama.”

“Okay! My name is Cereza.” She held up the doll in her arms. “And this is Cheshire!”

The fox looked down at the doll, and back to the girl. “A pleasure to meet you.”

She hugged Cheshire again, swaying as she looked down at it lovingly, before looking up again to Kurama. Then she turned around, humming the lively tune from earlier as she led him through the forest again.

He followed beside her as she kept up a slow jog, keeping his senses alert to anything that may attack them. Though he contemplated gathering her up and letting her direct him that way, he didn’t want to chance her getting scared or upset. It was remarkable the little human wasn’t sobbing when he found her. Most demons did.

They soon came across an odd structure he had never before seen. He paused, eyeing up the two statues that looked suspiciously like guardians on either side of a large, oddly carved circular plate, with a small set of stairs leading up to it. Cereza shuffled up to it, and pointed. “I came through this way! But…” She lowered her hand and frowned. “But it closed…”

Youko circled the structure, noting a human world portal glowing on the other side of the plate. “Well, it seems this side is working fine…”

Her lips formed an ‘o’ as a small sound escaped them. She came around to stand beside him, turning to the portal. “Oh!”

“Looks like you didn’t have to go very far at all, little one.”

“No…” she looked back up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? It was no trouble at all, little Cereza.” He knelt down, closer to her level. “I’m afraid this is where we part…” He frowned a bit. Would she be alright on her own again? But she was already inching her way towards the steps, seemingly comfortable with the consequences of going through again. He sighed. “Do take care of yourself, Cereza. No more falling into strange portals.”

“Mn-nm! I’ll be careful, Mr. Kurama! Thank you!” she smiled, and quickly jogged herself and her doll up the steps and back into the human world.

Golden eyes watched as the portal closed behind her, seconds after her foot past it. He checked the other side again, still blank and covered in odd runes. He mentally shrugged to himself, hoping the young girl would be alright on her own. He set off again, keeping in mind the location of the portal, should he ever be in need of it in the future.


	2. Gold and Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A leisurely walk in the park turns into a chance encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone planted the idea of Kurama and Cereza meeting again at a future time, so I took that suggestion and ran with it.

Working for his new step-father gave Kurama plenty of opportunity to travel as a liaison to new developing branches. Despite a lack of post-secondary education, he did his best to apply his intellect and advance the company whenever possible. Which is how he would find himself on the northeast coast of the United States. He spoke English better than most adults within his step-fathers company, and knew enough of the business to represent it well. So that was that.

He was walking through a park, reminiscing of home, later in the evening after a company meeting. There may have been different trees and different stone laid for the paths, but it was comparable enough that it brought him a sense of similarity and comfort. It was much larger than he’d expected; one could easily spend hours following it through one entrance and back again.

At the time it was all but deserted except for the natural wildlife, little critters moving from tree to tree away and around his direction. Most humans would be eating late dinner or readying for bed around this time, thus why he chose now to take his walk. It was more peacefully private this way. At least, that was his intent.

His walk deeper in to the park revealed a constant hum of energy in the air, something akin to the spirit energy of humans and demons. But not quite. Curious and on guard, Kurama pulled a seed from his hair and held it in a loose fist before continuing on down the path. There were no more small animals in the area, a fact that helped him consider the danger of what was further on. But he moved forward, cautious but determined to find the source of the strange energy.

He wasn’t expecting the end to an invisible battle.

He quickly moved behind a tree as ricochets of _something_ bounced off the solid surfaces around him. The hand holding his rose seed tightened, and he considered the use of it now. His senses stretched to try and identify who and what was here with him, but the hum had gone as soon as the battle finished. Thinking quickly, he jumped into the branches above and watched through the leaves for movement. There was something still there, he was certain of it, but he couldn’t make it out…

A disk of runes appeared in the air and he had his answers. The lettered script was European and old, rippled with not-unfamiliar magic. And through it came the witch who made it.

Heavily armed and mostly certainly dangerous, she practically danced out of the portal into this realm and stopped long enough to unwrap a lollipop. He contemplated running, but knew she would give chase – predator and prey scenario. He could use the trees to try to disorient her, but it wouldn’t likely buy him enough time.

Besides, she already cut him off from his options when she turned away and spoke.

“You know, I don’t really care for peeping toms. I much prefer all my dealings face-to-face.” She moved towards a garbage bin at the edge of the path, releasing the wrapper to float into it.

He dropped from his hiding place, recovering in an easy kneel as he considered the witch. As they were, he could probably escape from any battle, but not without causing a lot of damage to the area. But she radiated magic and demonic energy, a tell of her pact with some demon he did not immediately recognize.

When she turned around he caught the frown on her lips, consideration in her eyes. “You seem familiar. Have we met?”

Glad for the civil conversation over possible imminent violence, Kurama adopted a more relaxed stance, but still held the weapon seed in the event their talk turned ugly. While doing so he thought on the witch’s words, and the fact that the old witches were supposed to be extinct.

“I can’t say I’m familiar with your energy or that of your pact-demon…” But he stopped and thought as the wind passed through. It carried the scent of her perfume, floral, with a hint of her genuine scent.

She reflected his relaxed posture in her own way, carrying with it the attitude that things could change in a heartbeat. “My memory has been a bit foggy of late, but I thought it might have cleared up by now.”

It was encouraging to see her guns had been lowered, posing no immediate threat. However as she paced forward he couldn’t help the feeling of what he could only imagine past demons had felt in his presence. He was about to apologise and talk his way out of further company (it wasn’t entirely unheard of for witches to kill demons if their pact demon had some history with them, and he didn’t want to stay long enough to find out if hers knew him), but it suddenly clicked.

Her scent, aged, even under the perfume, was what he associated in his memory with the portal that he took out of Demon World as Youko Kurama. It was long since destroyed (he had to check years later with Hiei), but it was a prominent feature in his memory. And he only knew about because of one little girl.

He smiled disarmingly, and looked again at the woman before him. “Cereza, you’re all grown up. I apologize, but you would remember me with a different face.”

She blinked, but when she didn’t try to shoot him he continued.

“My name’s Shuichi Minamino, but you would know me better as Kurama.”

Recognition settled on her, eyes widening a bit before narrowing with a smirk. “Kurama. I do remember you.” She eyed him again, hands on her hips and making a small show of the gesture. “Well, if I’m ‘all grown up’, what’s happened to you?”

“A long story, I’m afraid,” he chuckled. “But it seems you have me in an awkward position. I must thank you for that meeting.”

“Thank me?” She pushed her glasses up as she moved closer to him. “I don’t suppose I will get any explanation for that?”

“We would be here a fair bit of time if I got into it,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be here in this body if it weren’t for you, and the alternative is that I wouldn’t be here at all.” He let the implication of that hang in air, and let her figure out her unintentional hand in the events that led to his survival.

“I suppose that would have to do.” She titled her head, likely sensing something beyond even his demonic ability through the realms. “Sorry, can’t stay and chat anyway. It seems as if I have more business to attend to.”

“I won’t keep you. Take care, Cereza.” He bowed politely as her arm carved another portal in the air beside her.

“Goodbye, Mr. Kurama.” She winked as they parted ways.


End file.
